I liked it. Kind of cool to think of a snail as a creature having a life, and pretty much unfussed about what the rest of us are doing. Mindfulness at its best.

"When I woke during the night, I would listen intently. Sometimes the silence was complete, but at other times I could hear the comforting sounds of the snail’s minuscule munching" (17).

Every teacher knows that the beginning of the school year fills the minutes with hectic movement within the small world of a classroom, quickening footsteps, rushing up and down hallways, and fragmented conversations. By the day’s end, it is all one can do to return home, turn the key in the lock, and shut it all out for a few brief hours – if one is so fortunate to be my age, children independent, with a supportive husband cooking dinner.

Gravitating to my library upstairs, it is no accident that I choose – finally – to read The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating. With first glance, the artwork calms – soft blue paper, elegant typeface, and the precious, scientific illustration of said snail. Beauty wrapped into a book – a size fitting delicately into the hands. The reader knows this is something wonderful from the touch alone.

And, it is. Transported to the very limited environment of the invalid, lying horizontal, finds solace and inspiration through her observations of the seemingly insignificant wild snail. Taken away from the horrors in the headlines, and high anxieties about students’ successes or lack of, I am reminded that the present – here and now – is the “still point” as T. S. Eliot* tell us.

So begins a metaphorical journey back to the self. Every night. At my bedside I am quieted in body and spirit through the life of this snail and one woman’s profound care of it. The beginning of the school year, yes; the beginning of the cycle of renewal – this too is possible with a good book.

Early in the book, Bailey writes “…I couldn’t imagine the kind of life a snail might lead.” Me neither, tbh, and what’s more - I couldn’t imagine being transfixed and charmed by someone writing about a snail. And yet! Beautifully written and interwoven with a devastating recounting of the challenges of a mystery chronic illness.

Relaxing read! Learned a lot about snails and also of the author’s own resilience in the face of her chronic illnesses. She also includes a lot of quotes from outside sources and I did not realize how much academic and creative work has been dedicated to snails, which I think is pretty cool :)

This is a very quick read, but quite illuminating and entertaining. I don’t think I will ever be able to look at a snail again without thinking about this book.

The author was stricken with an undiagnosed condition and became bedridden. In her weakened state, a friend gave her a potted violet with a snail inside enjoying the confined habitat afforded by its organic matter. Although one might believe a snail would offer no companionship whatsoever, Bailey was entertained by her daily observations and its outings from the pot. Eventually a friend relocated the creature to a terrarium she could keep at her bedside. Bailey’s curiosity and thirst for knowledge of this simple organism led to her writing this small witty volume. Her appreciation for this simple being is refreshing and unique.